1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to network data processing systems and, in particular, to the Internet Protocol address space. Still more particularly, the present invention provides a method, apparatus, and program for creating a visual representation of an address space.
2. Description of Related Art
A network is an arrangement of elements that are interconnected by cables, bridges, routers, and switches. A network may also include wireless devices, such as antennas and towers.
A client/server environment is an architecture in which a personal computer or client is a requesting machine and a server supplies access to a resource. Clients are servers may be connected by a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN). A LAN is a communications network that serves users within a confined geographical area and a WAN is a communications network that covers a wide geographic area, such as state or country.
In a client/server environment, the client processes the user interface and can perform some or all of the application processing. Servers range in capacity from high-end personal computers to mainframes. Servers may facilitate access to resources, such as files, printers, or applications. The terms “client” and “server” may refer to both the hardware and software or just the software that performs the request or service. For example, a Web server may refer to the Web server software in a computer that also runs other applications or it may refer to a computer system dedicated only to the Web server application.
The Internet represents a worldwide collection of networks and gateways that use the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) suite of protocols to communicate with one another. At the heart of the Internet is a backbone of high-speed data communication lines between major nodes or host computers, consisting of thousands of commercial, government, educational and other computer systems that route data and messages.
Entities in a network are located using a unique address. An IP address is the address of a computer attached to a TCP/IP network. Every client and server must have a unique IP address. Client workstations have either a permanent address or one that is dynamically assigned to them each session. IP addresses are 32-bit numbers commonly written as four decimal numbers separated by periods; for example, 192.168.1.101. This is referred to as the “dotted quad notation,” each number or “quad” being between zero and 256.
Typically, the entities in a network are visualized using a network topology map. A network topology map illustrates the physical connection of devices in a network, how they are geographically arranged, and how they communicate with one another. A network topology map may include addresses; however, the map relates the physical connections and locations of the devices. A network topology map includes little or no information about the address space other than to simply display an address.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide an improved mechanism for visualizing an address space.